We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, November 12, 2012

Who Backs 'Won’t Back Down'? A not very "feel-good" attack on public education

Click here to access article by Felicia Gustin from WarTimes
The war on public education continues with the now familiar one-two punch of demonizing teachers and discrediting teachers unions. And it's come to a theater near you in the form of the heavily promoted new film, Won't Back Down, starring Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Holly Hunter.
Capitalist agents prefer to use their control of media to infiltrate and subvert the minds of their citizens in order to serve their class that benefits from the system of private ownership of the economy. It is clear to me that a major propaganda war on public education is now being waged by these propagandists to justify and continue their current attack on public education following the conclusion of the Chicago teacher's strike. This is a part of the overall campaign to promote cutbacks to the social sector so that more money can be diverted to expenditures on the military and the US Empire. Also, big money can be made by software corporations that are preparing to exploit the introduction of more computers and software in education as a substitute for teachers. I just witnessed a hugely funded and successful campaign to promote charter schools here in Washington state.